Love Stings Like a Bee

‘Let’s play? Ew!’ ChangMin thought, immediately letting go of the door knob as if it held some kind of infectious disease. He heard a bump of a body against the door and his eyes grew at the scandalous things he heard from the other side. ChangMin shook his head disapprovingly. ‘Hyungs are weird,’ he shook his head, trying to clear out the images in his mind, ‘I sometimes wonder if they really are gay.’

            “ChangMin-ah! Did you get it yet?” YunHo yelled from down the hallway.

            Ani!” ChangMin yelled back, walking hurriedly towards the two waiting for him. “I didn’t need it after all.”

            “Well then, hurry up! If we don’t hurry, someone will beat us to it!”

            “Neh!” ChangMin hollered back, running full speed towards his two other hyungs. Catching up behind them, he stared at the back of JaeJoong’s head and traveled to the back of YunHo’s. YunHo’s left arm was around JaeJoong’s shoulder and JaeJoong’s right arm was around YunHo’s waist.

            "Is your cough still bothering you?" JaeJoong asked with concern.

            "Just a little bit," YunHo admited.

JaeJoong smiled, moving closer to the leader, "I know exactly what to give you to make it all better."

The taller of the two just smirked impishly and tilted his head closer to JaeJoong's, "Looking forward to it."

ChangMin blanched as he smacked his face, ‘Am I the only one STRAIGHT here?!’

            “Ha ha Chunnie,” JunSu laughed, trying to remove YooChun from on top of him, “Let me go.”

Unwavering, YooChun held his position. With his playful manner, he said, “Aniyo, I don’t want to.”

JunSu tried once more in budging YooChun, but with each passing second JunSu became more frustrated. “Park YooChun, it’s not funny anymore. Let me -” JunSu pushed YooChun with all his might and managed to push him a few steps away. “ - through.” JunSu huffed and turned around, trying to open the door once more.

YooChun came back, and shut the door with both hands on each side of JunSu, cornering him. “You can’t buy her that necklace.”

By now JunSu was annoyed, he whipped around to stare YooChun straight in the eye, challenging him. “Why not? I like her and she likes me.”

YooChun sighed as he relaxed his arms a bit, “Just don’t go, ok?”

            “Let go of me!” JunSu screamed, using his body to push YooChun off again.

            “You’re one of my best friends,” YooChun said in a low tone with his head down, standing his ground. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

JunSu stopped his pushing and said with a small smile, “I’m not going to Chunnie. Don’t worry; she likes me just as much as I like her. There's no denying the chemistry between us last night.”

YooChun’s head snapped up. Why couldn’t JunSu take a hint? He sighed and continued. “I talked to her, Su... She doesn’t like you like that, I’m sorry...”

The smile on JunSu's face disappeared and was replaced with anger as he narrowed his eyes. All he wanted was to give the girl he loved a present, and his stupid ‘friend’ was getting in the way. Why should he listen to YooChun? JunSu knew ChoMin; he spent the whole day with her yesterday! He was shocked that his friend could say such a mean thing, when he knew the truth. “Liar!” JunSu yelled, not even bothering to push YooChun away. He was just too angry - fuming. “You’re just jealous! You’re-You’re just saying because you want her for yourself! NOW LET GO OF ME YOU JERK!”

            “No! I won’t!” YooChun yelled back, ticked off at JunSu’s words, “I already told you! I. DON’T. LIKE. HER! Just listen to me!”

            “No! You do! Don’t think I couldn’t tell, you’re always all over her!”

            “Kim JunSu, will you just listen?!”

JunSu thrashed his head wildly, “Why are you doing this?!” JunSu screamed at YooChun’s face.

           “Because I care about you!” YooChun screamed back, trying to shout some sense into his friend. In doing so, he let his hands off the door and onto JunSu’s shoulders.

JunSu stared at YooChun, disbelief in his eyes. He then turned away with resentment. “If you care about me, then let me go,” JunSu scoffed. Taking advantage of the free door, he whipped around like lightning and opened the door.

But he wasn’t fast enough.

YooChun closed it shut before it was open enough to let him through.

            “Aarrrgh! I have to tell her how I feel!” JunSu yelled in frustration. “Damn it! Let me through!”

YooChun’s frustration and irritation at his dense friend grew to a breaking point. With anger, he violently pounded against the door with his hands right near JunSu’s head. “Don’t you get it?! She's in love with someone else!”

JunSu's eyes grew large. YooChun's harsh words stung more than a slap ever could.

Seeing JunSu's hurt expression, YooChun regained his calm and with a sigh, he turned around, not being able to look at his friend, “ She…She told me who she likes – who she loves...”

            “Muh?” JunSu asked, confusion and disbelief evident in his tone. His anger died down instantly. ‘What is he talking about?’

YooChun stuffed his hands in his pockets, his head downcast. “Su…I’m sorry, but… ChoMinnie is in love with JaeJoong hyung.”

JunSu couldn’t believe what he just heard. ChoMin – his ChoMin was in love with his hyung. ‘No…No…’ JunSu shook his head in denial, but one look at the morose YooChun and he knew deep down that it was true.

His heart hurt.

The beautiful smiling image of ChoMin as he held her hand the other night cracked like a broken mirror - it was tainted by the pain in his heart.

            “Liar…liar…” he whispered.

Suddenly, it all made sense. How ChoMin would always say that JaeJoong was her favorite, how’d she always blush ten times redder when JaeJoong talked to her or accidentally touched her, how she called everyone oppa but never once called JaeJoong that and finally all those time he caught her staring at him when he thought she was only staring into space.

It made absolute sense.

But despite all the hints here and there, JunSu just couldn’t believe it. His heart ached for her, and imgages upon images of her smiling face, her laughter, her lips, hair, eyes, skin flashed by in his head like a whirlwind tornado, taunting him. He slid down onto the floor, looking straight ahead unblinking. And one by one, little drops of water hit the marble floor. “It’s a lie…”

YooChun’s eyes softened at his sobbing friend. He eased onto the floor in front of JunSu, holding him tightly. “Su…” YooChun whispered as his fingers ran through JunSu’s hair soothingly, his own tears mingling with his.

That evening, silence reigned over the dining room table. The atmosphere was tense and gloomy - no one dare talked. All around, the five seated at the table did not dare speak. ChoMin sat with her head down, sitting between YunHo and the empty chair ChangMin would have sat in. She could not look up from her plate, for JaeJoong sat directly in front of her with JunSu to his right. Though it has been a week, she had not been able to say more than 3 words in the presence of JaeJoong and until last night, the guilt gnawed at her, making her unable to approach JunSu as of yet.

Unable to take the tension, JunSu abruptly stood up and announced that he was full. His statement the only words spoken at the table, ChoMin chanced in looking up at him. And when she did, their eyes met. She tried her best to smile happily, hoping for one in return. Yet all she got from him was a sad small smile before he excused himself. Right after he left, YooChun got up wordlessly, following after him. ChoMin tried making eye contact with YooChun before he left, but he blew her off with a cold shoulder. JaeJoong, not liking everyone’s attitude, stood up as well to figure out what the hell was going on and to check if JunSu was ok.

So there the two cousins sat, alone with many dishes left untouched at the center of the table.

'YooChun told him...' There was no other way to explain it. And just as she feared, JunSu got hurt. ‘Of course he would. Why did I think he’d come out ok?’ she thought to herself as she began piling up the dinner dishes.

            “Here,” YunHo said, taking some dishes from ChoMin’s arms, “Let me help.”

The two dumped the dishes into the sink as YunHo began washing them and ChoMin began cleaning the table.

            “I’m sorry you had to see that ChoMin-ah,” YunHo said from the kitchen as he began scrubbing the plates. “We usually don’t fight, but it’s bound to happen sometimes. I don’t know what this one is about, but I’m sure it’ll blow over soon.”

ChoMin placed the last dishes into the bubbly sink as she pulled out a clean rag to dry the clean dishes. She stood next to YunHo, shaking her head. “It won’t, not this time.”

            “Huh?”

            “It’s my fault that JunSu oppa is sad.”

            “ChoMin-ah? What are you talking about?” YunHo asked with a bemused face. He dropped the dishes with a clank in the soapy waters of the sink. How could it be ChoMin’s fault? ‘If it’s anyone’s fault, it was probably that girl JunSu went out with last night,’ YunHo concluded.

ChoMin took a deep breath and hopped onto the counter, putting the dish rag down softly. “If I tell you, please let me talk until I’m done,” she said with her head down. She had no other choice. She had no one who could help her fix everything. “JunSu-ah and I went out on a date last night.” She could see the shocked looked on YunHo’s face. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but quickly shut it.

She continued with a somber face, “But, after our perfect date…I realized that all he and I could ever be was just friends. But I really did care about him before our date, it was just that I-I wasn’t so sure because I was rejected by someone I liked, and JunSu-ah was just so nice to me. And I really thought he could be the one, but…”

ChoMin frowned at her words. “Anyway I told YooChunnie my feelings and he said he’d tell him for me, but he said that if JunSu oppa got hurt, he’d never forgive me. Now, I think he’s angry at me.” She knew she sounded pathetic, cold, and undeserving. Just a month ago, she was so willing to kiss JunSu but ever since her talk with JaeJoong on the phone, he was the only one she thought about. And now, she was about to do the most selfish thing, but she really didn’t care. She needed him - she needed her big oppa to be on her side.

Jung ChoMin was going to make U-know YunHo choose between her and his friends. And she hated herself for it.

            “Oppa,” ChoMin said above a whisper, her voice beginning to break. She looked up at YunHo, her eyes holding so much grief and guilt. Salty tears began running down her delicate face. “Help me please?”

YunHo hugged his hurting cousin instinctively, rocking her back and forth to calm her down. Yet he said nothing. How could he? The gravity of the situation before him bore down on his shoulders. On one side, JunSu and YooChun were his very best friends. He’s lived with them for years and they’ve been through so much together. Yet on the other hand, ChoMin was his baby cousin - his own flesh and blood. How was he supposed to choose between the people he loved the most?

            “Don’t worry ChoMin-ah…” He whispered soothingly, “Leave it to Oppa to make everything better. So stop crying, ok?” he wiped the tears coming from her eyes and lightly squeezed her hand for strength. “Go to our studio and stay there. I’ll fix everything.” YunHo gave her a small smile before letting go of her hand and walking away from the kitchen.

His heart pounded with each step he took. How was he going to fix everything like he promised? In reality, he only said that so ChoMin could calm down but as he neared their bedroom, he realized that he had no clue how to diffuse the problem. He couldn’t face JunSu, even though he knew it was partially ChoMin’s fault, he didn’t have the courage to talk to him face to face. ‘So I guess I’ll talk to YooChun-ah…’ YunHo took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. Nervous sweat ran down his temple as he stood in front of their door, his right hand ready to knock on the wood.

He swiftly knocked 3 times and mumbled, “It’s me, YunHo.” He stepped back, allowing YooChun to come out and close the door after him. Through the crack, YunHo was able to see JunSu sniffling on his bed and JaeJoong kindly comforting him with his arm around his sobbing friend.

            “Hey Hyung,” YooChun said, sticking his hands into his pockets.

            “Hey,” YunHo said awkwardly. “Is JunSu ok?”

            “What do you think?” YooChun asked coldly, “No, he’s not.”

            “Listen YooChun-ah,” YunHo started, not liking the tone of his friend’s voice, “I'm sorry things got... complicated between JunSu and ChoMin, but it’s not all of her fault. It's not right just to blame her.”

            “So, what you're saying ist that JunSu is the one who's responsible?” YooChun cried angrily. Inside, he really knew it wasn’t her fault, but he needed someone to blame for JunSu’s pain. “She knew what she was doing and yet she still led him on without any care, like - like a tease. I can’t forgive her for that,” he spat callously.

           “YAH! That’s my cousin you’re talking about!” YunHo screamed pushing YooChun against the wall roughly, thoroughly pissed at the lie he dared spouting.  “What do you know anyway? NOTHING! She was just confused, and if you only used your damn eyes, you could have seen it, so don’t ing blame this on her!”

Suddenly, the door to their bedroom opened to reveal a worried JaeJoong. He stood in the door way, his eyes wide with fear at the scene unfolding in front of him. “What the hell is going on here?!”

YunHo let off on YooChun, temporarely distracted by JaeJoong unexpected appearance. Yet YooChun paid no heed and used the interruption to his advantage.

            “AARRGH!!!” YooChun screamed, driving YunHo against ChoMin’s door in anger, “What is wrong with you?! This is Kim JunSu! Your best friend! Don’t you dare blame this on him either, you !”

YunHo pushed back, and the two began struggling against each other in the middle of the hallway.

            “I didn't! Look, I'm his best friend too -”

            “Well you’re sure as hell not acting like it! He’s inside crying, and all you can do is blame him!”

            “I’M NOT BLAMING HIM! Why are you so STUPID?!”

            “I’m STUPID?! And what makes you? A MORON!”

            “URGH! Quit acting like a self-righteous bastard!” cried YunHo, pushing against YooChun even harder. "I can’t stand your idiocy!"

            “Fine then! Then I should just ing QUIT!”

            “Go ahead! Do us all a favor and get the out!”

JaeJoong immediately stepped in, trying to separate the two. He used all his might to pry YooChun off the angry YunHo. “Stop! STOP! FIGHTING WON’T SOLVE ANYTHING!”

He placed a firm hand on both their chests as all three heaved, out of breath from their little brawl. “Look,” JaeJoong started, staring seriously at both YunHo and YooChun, “Fighting will get us nowhere and listen to me when I say it’s none of their faults. No one can control these things.” He lowered his hands to his side solemnly. “There’s no point in placing the blame. It’s bad enough that JunSu-ah and ChoMin-sshi are still hurting, fighting will only make it worse.”

JaeJoong looked from one to the other, disappointment in his eyes. Both were scowling, still out of breath but recovering. “I’m going to check on ChoMin-sshi. And when I get back, you two better have made up or else there will be hell to pay.”

He eyed them each one last time before shouldering pass them to make sure ChoMin didn’t hear their argument.

There was a moment of tension in the air when he left. YooChun glared at YunHo, not wanting to be the first to apologize. Sighing, YunHo closed his eyes to try and calm down. “Look, YooChun-ah, I’m sorry for blowing up like that,” YunHo said, extending his hand to his friend.

            “I’m sorry too Hyung, I said things I really didn’t mean,” YooChun said slowly, grabbing YunHo’s outstretched right hand. They gave each other a warm hug, truly embarrassed and regretful at their outburst. YooChun wiped a tear that threatened to fall from his eyes, as he laughed at how stupid and immature they both just acted. And pretty soon, YunHo accompanied him in his laughter.

            “You guys!” JaeJoong yelled, rushing towards them frantically, “I can’t find ChoMin-sshi anywhere!”

            “Muh?!”

Shops and restaurants zoomed past as ChoMin continued to run. She wasn't going anywhere in particular - just needed to get away. Away from the apartment, away from the tension, and away from the two people she cared about who was fighting because of her.

‘I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt anyone!’ Tears prickled her eyes, almost blinding her as she recalled the scene she ran away from -  her cousin and her best fighting and JunSu crying and JaeJoong... He heard what she had done! ‘It’s not my fault! It's not my fault!’

She ran and ran, until the muscles in her legs burned. Her lungs screamed for air. Bent over with a hand rested on her knee trying to catch her breath, she could feel her phone vibrating in her pocket. Not caring to look at the caller id, she answered the demanding phone.

            “Yobeoseyo?”

           “Yah! Jung ChoMin! Where are you?!” the voice of a concerned yet frantic YunHo screamed over the phone. In a panic, she slid her phone down, ending the call abruptly. There was no way she wanted to hear the voice of her cousin, not now. ChoMin gazed all around her. She stood in the middle of a side walk, with many trees and a few lamps on either side. ‘How’d I get here?’ She took a few steps forward, not recognizing the park she was in. Her feet numbed, and her body ached. She held on to her burning side as she limped towards an empty bench a few meters away. ‘Great, not only am I the worst person in the world, I’m also lost…’

            “Yobeoseyo? Yobeoseyo!” YunHo screamed into his phone as he ran through the jostling crowd on the side walk, wearing only a brown trench coat and a baseball cap. He stopped running in a cross section, waiting for the signal to change. He kept a low profile, hiding deeper into the collar of the trench coat in order not to be recognized.

             “Aish,” he cussed under his breath, trying to reach her phone one more time but only getting the answering machine. He pocketed his cell phone as the lights changed, signaling a safe crossing. He raced ahead, hoping his cousin was somewhere in the crowd.

He could feel his lungs tighten up and a violent cough building up in his throat, yet YunHo pushed it down, too engrossed in his search to worry about himself.

ChoMin sat huddled from the cold night wind on the park bench. There were plenty of lights around, so she didn’t feel as scared as she would have been if it was dimmer despite being alone. She sat there on the cold bench for the last two hours, thinking about everything that transpired. As she thought about it more, she had an overwhelming desire to just end it all… and kill herself. ‘Wouldn’t it be easier if I just disappeared?’ she thought, looking up at the dark sky.

She hurt JunSu, YooChun was mad at her, she forced YunHo to choose her over his friends, and JaeJoong heard everything and probably thought badly of her.

            “Well at least ChangMin isn’t here to hate on me too,” she whispered, trying to sound optimistic. Yet it did not do much. She contemplated calling YunHo to come pick her up, but she was too stubborn and embarrassed to ask him now. She’d rather waste away in some park then to see Dong Bang Shin Ki. “Isn’t it ironic?” she told no one in particular, “Just two months ago, I was dying to see them.” She sighed, “Well it doesn’t matter, I can’t stay with them anymore. I’ve caused enough trouble.”

            “ChoMin-ah?”

ChoMin turned to her right to see who called out her name.

            “ChoMin-ah!” YooChun huffed again, seeing the girl sit on a bench underneath a lamp post. He had a pissed off expression and walked angrily towards her, followed by JaeJoong. She stood up at her feet, shocked to see both of them in the park.

            ‘Great, two of the last people I want to see,’ ChoMin thought bitterly, remembering YooChun’s earlier words. But then her expression softened, ‘and YooChun’s still angry…’

He stalked to her, out of breath, getting nearer and nearer to the girl underneath the lights. “Jung ChoMin!” He stood one meter away from her, the shadows hiding his expression. JaeJoong stood back, giving them room to talk.

ChoMin sighed as she lowered her head, looking down at her shoes. “I’m really sorry, Yoo –”

But she was caught off guard, for YooChun ran to her and threw his arms around her, holding her tightly against his body. “Pabo! You don’t know how worried I was!” He let go of her and held her at arm’s length, staring directly into her eyes. “Don’t you ever – ever – do that again, araso?!”

ChoMin gazed into his worried eyes, the tears beginning to form. ‘He came for me!’  She threw her arms around him and all the emotions came flooding back. All the guilt, the embaressment, the grief, the pain, she let it out as she sobbed against his neck. “YooChun-ah! I’m so so-orry! I’m so-o sor-ry! I-I didn’t mean t-to h-h-hurt anyone! I swear! I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!”

YooChun patted her hair as he sat the sobbing ChoMin back down on the bench. With his right finger, he lifted up her chin and wiped away her tears with his sleeve. “Sssh, My-Cho, listen…I should be the one apologizing. I didn’t mean what I said when Hyung and I were fighting. Look, JunSu and you are very important to me, and I just – just didn’t know what to do. Of course I was angry, but when you left... that anger turned to fear - ChoMin-ah...”

JaeJoong stared silently at the scene in front of him. Truth be told, he was glad that ChoMin and YooChun were patching things up. He followed YooChun because he knew that the rapper would be the one to find her. ‘It’s nice to have a best friend,’ he thought with a smile, thinking about BongCha and how the two in front of him reminded him of the Cassiopeia president and himself. 

ChoMin sniffed, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. “I still feel really bad…”

            “JunSu-ah is a big boy, he’ll get over it eventually. I over-reacted.” YooChun confessed, rubbing ChoMin’s back gently. There was still some underlying resentment, but he knew that by the time the night was over, it would be gone.

            “The car’s waiting out by the entrance,” JaeJoong said softly, pointing behind him to his BMW.  Wiping the last of her tears, ChoMin and YooChun stood up at the same time, and walked to where JaeJoong stood patiently a few meters away.

Together, all three made their way to the car in silence. ChoMin walked confidently behind JaeJoong, a huge weight lifted up from her chest. She eyed YooChun to her left, pointing with her eyes at JaeJoong, signaling her best friend that she wanted some alone time with the blonde to her right. Smiling sheepishly, YooChun nodded and began walking a little faster.

When he was a some meters away, ChoMin took a deep breath and began, “Listen…JaeJoong-sshi, this might not be right time but I need to talk to you about something,”

JaeJoong walked besides her silently, glancing towards her with the corner of his eyes. “What it is it?”

ChoMin bit her lip nervously, but continued with courage, “Can we put whatever happened last Monday behind us? And today too?”

JaeJoong blushed slightly at the memory, but one look at the seriousness in ChoMin’s face, told him he should consent. And it's not like he hated her. Despite all the trouble she's caused, those last few days without speaking to her was just plain boring.

            “Yeah, I think we should,” he said, “This silence between us is getting really stupid.” He smiled brightly, offering his left hand. “Friends?”

Truth be told, ChoMin wanted to be more than friends. But voicing out her real opinion would ruin the truce she tried to build. Instead, she accepted his warm hand with a smile, this being the closure she needed in finally moving forward. ChoMin slowly let go of his hand and let her it drop besides her. Happy that she accepted, JaeJoong slinked his right arm over her shoulders as they neared his car.

ChoMin smiled genuinely, ecstatic that he held her again. ‘Well, at the very least we’re good friends,’ she mentally sighed, ‘I think it’s finally time to move on.’

-[The End]-

Just kidding!!! XP That would have if I really ended it there. But it IS the end of the JunSu Arc. -cries in a corner-

Anyhoo, you all probably hate me now and want to throw carrots at me for making ChoMin hurt JunSu and for making a ruckus and threatening to disband DBSK. -hides from sharp pointy flying carrots-

But let’s face it, no matter how much we want to like a person because they like you back, it’s hard, because you already have feelings for someone else. Vouching for ChoMin, she did try to like JunSu, I mean she went out on a date with him. Moral of the story: Don’t date someone just because you want to test if there’s anything between you two, if you do, tell them before hand so they’ll know what to expect. Give them a little bit of warning.

So who will ChoMin end up with now? Unattanable JaeJoong? Bestie YooChun? Or maybe the aloof NakMin? And where does JeeWoon, YunHo, BongCha, and ChangMin come into all this? Plus, whatever happened to the adorably dense YunHee and the annoying TaeHyun? Why am I askign so many questions?? Dx I guess you all will have to wait for the next chapter. ^-^

Until next time!

~Asian_Innocence